Games › Programming › Programming + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Programming game?
Programming + Fantasy
Only 13 developers shipped a Fantasy Programming game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Auto Rogue, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $420. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) |
| Top 5% | $151k (exactly $150,774) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 27 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 35% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Fantasy
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Programming; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Automation, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 924 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
Hack 'n' Slash 2014 · $216k 
Auto Rogue 2025 · $151k 
Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG 2026 · $65k 
Arcane Assembly 2024 · $32k 
Card Coder 2026 · $12k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hack 'n' Slash | older | $13.37 | 538 57% | 16k | $216k (exactly $215,792) | Double Fine Productions |
| | Auto Rogue | $6.99 | 719 91% | 22k | $151k (exactly $150,774) | 定期的な宝物 | |
| | Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG | $14.99 | 144 84% | 4.3k | $65k (exactly $64,757) | Wizard | |
| | Arcane Assembly | older | $7.99 | 134 72% | 4.0k | $32k (exactly $32,120) | Isaac Lee |
| | Card Coder | $14.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | Code Wizard: Java Edition | older | $5.99 | 41 85% | 1.2k | $7.4k (exactly $7,368) | Duckisoft |
 | Dreamy Duels ~ Tales of Heroes in Gensoukyo | · EA older | $7.99 | 26 65% | 780 | $6.2k (exactly $6,232) | IGensoukyo |
 | Upalu Mundi | $7.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) | True Baboons | |
 | Lambda Spellcrafting Academy - Learn to Program! | older | $19.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $3.0k (exactly $2,998) | Bit Twiddle Games |
 | Multiply Factory | older | $4.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) | Time Shrink Studio |
 | Scripted Land | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Hyakuren Soft | |
 | Circuit Stance | $9.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Fluffy Brown | |
 | Cal & Bomba | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Filiokus | |
 | Dungeon-Bot | $8.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $809 (exactly $809) | XREALL | |
 | Widget Warriors | $4.99 | 5 0% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | Vespertine Game | |
 | Chained Runes | $6.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $419 (exactly $419) | Carton 22 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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